The Tycoon's Defiant Southern Belle (6 page)

Was she being silly?   She didn’t see Dave for days, sometimes all week, and that
didn’t bother her.  There was also the issue that Dave didn’t make her feel anything
when he kissed her.  Okay, so there was a small bit of impatience when he took her
into his arms.  She’d always just thought that was because they’d been together for
so long and she’d never been willing to take it further.  Dave had pushed it initially. 
When they’d first started dating all those years ago she’d resisted becoming intimate
with him.  But at the time she’d been quite clear that she wasn’t going to have sex
with a man before marriage.  And Dave had made it very clear that he wanted to marry
her, just not yet.  So their standoff had continued throughout the years with Dave
respecting her need for marriage and not pressing the issue of physical intimacy.

She turned off the lights, checked that Jasper was in his bed and Rufus was on hers,
and slipped between the sheets.  Yes, Dave was definitely the man she wanted to marry. 
She didn’t want the crazy excitement that Angelo created within her.  That was too
much, too scary.  Dave was the sweet, gentle, kind and faithful man that was willing
to respect her need for tradition.  While Angelo was completely out of her league
not to mention the kind of man who ignored tradition and played by his own rules. 
The townspeople seemed to have accepted him into their community, harboring no hard
feelings about his management changes, especially since his new executives had bought
houses in the area.  But that didn’t mean she had to forgive and forget!

Jade smiled as Dave walked up to take her arm.  He gave her a brief kiss on the cheek
and Jade smiled warmly at him. “How was your day?” she asked, trying very hard to
look interested.  This was what was right.  This made sense to her.  The comfortable
feeling of having Dave next to her with his blond, good looks and his gentle smile
was warm and comforting.  She didn’t need the dark, forbidding silence of Angelo. 
She didn’t need his overly muscled body.  And she definitely didn’t need his arrogant
assumption that she would be his next lover which was communicated to her every time
she saw him! 

“Are you okay?” Dave asked, stopping and looking at her curiously. 

“Sure.  Why do you ask?” she demanded, irritated by the memory of Angelo’s touch and
the way she constantly responded to him as well as the way he was always looking at
her! 

“You’re gripping my arm with your nails digging into my skin.” 

Jade looked down at her fingers and gasped, instantly releasing his arm.  “I’m so
sorry!” she apologized, horrified that Angelo could get to her when he wasn’t even
nearby. 

Dave chuckled at her expression and put his arm around here shoulders.  “Come on. 
I think you need a drink.” 

She didn’t even realize she was comparing Dave to Angelo until she put her own arm
around his waist, feeling the softness there.  She looked at him, noticing that she
didn’t have to look up at him.  In her two inch heels, she and Dave were the same
height.  That was nice, she thought with a sigh of resignation.  She liked this. 
She preferred this.  She didn’t want to have a crick in her neck every time she looked
at her man. 

Okay, so perhaps Dave could work out a bit.  She compared the almost non-existent
muscles in his arm to the bulging muscles she’d felt in Angelo’s arms that one night
on his lanai.  And she noticed the paunch in Dave’s stomach.  When had that happened,
she wondered.  She’d always thought that Dave was more athletic, but looking at him
now, she wasn’t so sure. 

“Are you still running?” she asked as they walked up the pathway to the party.  That
had been the one thing they’d initially had in common.  Jade still ran about five
or six miles a day almost every day of the week.  It was her way of shutting out the
world and reducing her stress levels but also a great way to stay in shape. 

Dave shook his head.  “There’s no time for running now.  I barely exercise lately. 
My boss has me running around all day long.”

Jade didn’t like the sound of that.  She thought that exercise should be part of one’s
daily routine, as basic as eating and brushing one’s teeth.  She even loved to swim
in the ocean when it was warm enough, enjoying the ability to just run into the surf
at the end of a long, exhausting day.  She’d actually been doing a lot of that lately
now that seeing Angelo seemed to be an almost daily occurrence. 

She realized what she was doing, comparing Dave to Angelo’s massive physique and reminded
herself that she didn’t really like a man who had too many muscles.  She put her arm
around Dave’s waist as he smiled to her.  “It’s good to have you back,” she said and
tried to genuinely feel it.  Dave’s waist was soft, her fingers sinking into the flesh
at his side.  That never happened with Angelo, she thought absently. 

Dave put his arm back around her shoulders and gestured to the other guests making
their way towards the deck where the party was already in full swing.  “Let’s not
worry about the day right now, okay?  Let’s just relax and have a good time.”  He
waved to one of his friends as he handed Jade a glass of wine.  “Your new neighbor
is here,” he said, nodding his head over towards the pool area. 

Jade froze, her mind recoiling at the idea of Angelo being here.  This was supposed
to be her safe place.  She was among her peers, among the people she’d grown up with. 
How dare he invade her space like this!

In slow motion, she turned and faced the direction in which Dave was looking and right
there, looking more gorgeous than she remembered, was the man who had invaded her
dreams every night lately.  She couldn’t seem to avoid him and it was really irritating
her that he was here now, with her friends and her boyfriend.  Why couldn’t he just
leave her alone?

She smiled briefly as Angelo caught her eye.  They acknowledged each other, but Jade
was startled by the anger she felt emanating from those black eyes.  Why in the world
did he think he had any right to be angry with her?  She was the one feeling stalked. 
She was the one that wanted just a private evening with her friends so she could wrap
her mind around how much she loved Dave.  It would be difficult to do that with Angelo
shooting daggers at her from across the deck! 

“Are the renovations not going well?” Dave asked, taking a sip of his beer.  “Your
boss is my boss now.  So make sure you do a really good job, okay?  This is my chance
to get in with him.”

Jade shivered, finally pulling her eyes away from Angelo’s angry look and turned away. 
“No.  They are going extremely well.  We’re ahead of schedule and under budget.” 
Then Dave’s words struck her and she looked at him, feeling almost disgust at his
admonition. 

Dave wasn’t looking in her direction so he didn’t see her look of outright fury as
he chuckled slightly.  “Then why is your boss looking at you as if he’s about to tear
your head off?”

Jade pasted a smile on her face and shrugged her shoulders, refusing to give him the
real reason.  She didn’t think it would be good for Dave to know that his boss’s boss’s
boss had propositioned her.  “I’ve just missed a few calls from him lately.  One of
the specialty items he wanted hasn’t been delivered so I’m trying to figure out….”
She saw Dave’s face freeze and she stopped talking.  “Dammit!  Is he coming over here?”
she demanded, almost stomping her foot in frustration.  She’d done such a good job
of avoiding him today, of avoiding the scary subject she knew he wanted to discuss. 

He’d given her one week to break things off with Dave and now she was here with Dave’s
hand in hers.  Angelo wasn’t the kind of man who would ignore a blatant challenge
like that.  Angelo was more like the kind that would pursue a confrontation. 

Dave’s face flamed with color and she thought that was odd.  “Dave, is he leaving?”

“No,” Angelo snapped directly from behind her.  “I’m not on my way over.  I’m standing
directly behind you, which was what your boyfriend was trying to silently tell you. 
Nor am I leaving.  We have some unfinished business.  Don’t we, Jade?” he asked, his
normally gravelly voice sounding as smooth as silk.  A good way to disguise his anger,
she thought with genuine fear clogging up her throat. 

She spun around and looked up at him, even irritated that he wasn’t a normal sized
human being but a giant sized man who could snap her wrist in two with very little
effort.  “I’m so sorry that we haven’t been able to check in with each other lately,”
she said with a professional smile but she wasn’t able to look him in the eye as she
silently begged him not to reveal too much in front of Dave.  “I’ve been inexcusably
busy with all the vendors and contractors.”

With a direct look towards Dave, he said, “Would you excuse us for a moment?  We have
some important issues to discuss.”  Angelo waited until Dave had stepped off of the
deck and joined another group of people before he continued.  “You’ve conveniently
been out of the house whenever I’ve shown up to talk, you won’t answer my phone calls
and you’ve run away from me every time we’ve met on the street,” he raised a hand
when she started to interrupt him, “and you can’t even look me in the eye when we
see each other.  For someone who is trying to keep our relationship out of the public
eye, you’re not doing a very good job of it, Jade.”

Jade gasped and looked around.  “We are not having any sort of relationship other
than professional.”

“Yes we are.  And you know it.  You haven’t broken up with Dave yet, have you?”

She started to respond, but he shook his head again.  Shifting his body so that his
broad shoulders blocked the view of the rest of the party, he created a small, intimate
alcove for their conversation.  “Don’t even bother to deny what we have going on between
us Jade.  We will be lovers.  If you want Dave along to pretend otherwise, that’s
your choice.  But it isn’t going to stop me.  And you’ll be home the next time I come
by to talk or I’ll find you.”

Jade felt as if she’d been caught with her hand in the cookie jar.  “I haven’t been
avoiding you,” she lied again, her heart beating frantically now with all of his anger
and his ultimatums not to mention the intense desire to have his arms around her once
again.  Had it only been last week when he’d kissed her?  It seemed like months! 
“I’m sorry I haven’t been home.  I shouldn’t have avoided you.  That was inadvertent.” 
She was still lying, but she told herself it was for a good reason.  She needed to
appease some of his anger.  Telling him once again that he scared her wouldn’t help
her cause because he’d turn all gentle and kind.  She could deal with his anger more
easily. 

“What is it Jade?” he asked, still with that soft, dangerous voice.  She felt him
shift slightly and then his hand clamped around her upper arm.  “Let’s find some place
a bit more private,” he snapped.  “People are starting to stare at us and I’d rather
not have our conversation broadcast on the streets and coffee shop tomorrow morning.”

Without waiting for a response, he guided her off of the small deck and over to the
thick grass on the side of the house.  Jade smiled to her friends and went along with
Angelo as if she were fine with whatever he needed to discuss with her.  She refused
to acknowledge her hope that he would kiss her, or at least touch her in that special
way that made her feel so alive.  No, she told herself firmly, she was not addicted
to his touch.  She didn’t like it when he touched her. 

When they were finally away from the other guests, she pulled her arm out of his grip
and spun around on him, trying to convince herself that she didn’t want his touch
as much as to convince Angelo. 

“How dare you pull me away like that!  How rude!”

Angelo wasn’t going to take that from her.  “Jade, I dare when the woman I held in
my arms completely ignores me for no genuine reason except that she’s scared.”

Her mouth fell open and she took a step back.  “I’m not scared!”

Angelo was so furious with her that he could barely see straight.  He never lost his
temper.  He’d learned the hard way that letting one’s emotions rule was tantamount
to losing control.  And he never lost control. 

Until this woman came along.  Now he was furious with her for being so stubborn as
well as for letting her fears keep them away from each other.  He was also furious
with himself for even caring.  On numerous occasions, he’d told himself to just let
her go.  He’d tried to convince himself that he didn’t need a woman who was afraid
of her own sexuality but there was just something about her that kept him here, made
him keep trying to get through to her. 

Why couldn’t he just put her aside like all the other women in his past was a mystery,
but he couldn’t get her out of his mind. 

“When are you going to wake up and realize that this thing between us isn’t going
to go away?  And Dave can’t give you what we have,” he growled.  He’d seen her cute
derriere walking away from him too often this week.  He wasn’t going to relent tonight. 

Jade turned her head back and forth, crossing her arms over her chest in stubborn
defiance.  “Dave is a good man.  He loves me and he’s stood beside me for years. 
I can’t just dump him when a new guy comes along.” 

Angelo looked down at her, astonished at what she was telling him.  “Are you saying
that you’re being loyal to a man simply because you’ve invested so much time in the
relationship?”

Jade wasn’t sure what it was, but his statement didn’t sound very sensible.  “Well,”
she bit her lip for a moment, then nodded.  “Yes.  That’s exactly what I’m telling
you.”

Angelo rolled his eyes.  His anger dissipated suddenly and he even respected her a
bit more now.  He understood loyalty.  That made sense to him but he wouldn’t let
her ignore their attraction simply because she’d been with the dud for so long.  “Honey,
the very fact that you aren’t married to the guy, you barely kiss him and you aren’t
having sex with him should tell you something.”

She bristled at his assumption.  “How do you know we aren’t having sex?” she demanded.

Angelo actually laughed at the blush that flared up on her lovely cheeks when she
asked that question.  “I just know, Jade.  You’re not even attracted to him.”

“I am!” she fired right back.  “But what would you know about being in a caring, loving
relationship?” she asked.  “You probably go through women like water bottles, tossing
one out after you’ve used up everything inside them.  Then mercilessly tossing the
bottle out as soon as you’re done, regardless of how horrible it is to the environment.”

Angelo looked at her, confused.  “Are we talking about human relationships now, or
our relationship with our recycling?”

She huffed, furious with him.  “That was an analogy,” she flamed back, punching him
on his shoulder but he didn’t even feel it with all those bulky muscles.  “I don’t
want to be the water bottle you toss away when you’re finished with me!  Dave wouldn’t
ever throw me away!  He likes to savor bottled water!”